Catching valuable bugs (and sharks) on summer nights is always fun, in any Animal Crossing game. A long bug-hunting session can net you some serious bells. And even if you don’t need the money, it’s always exciting to nab a big beetle or catch a huge shark.
So why do I prefer bug-hunting in City Folk over all of the other Animal Crossing games? There are several reasons, so let’s begin.
Shop Hours
City Folk lets you downgrade your shop to choose better hours. It’s basically a precursor to the night owl ordinance in New Leaf and New Horizons. The City Folk version of Nook ‘n’ Go stays open until 1 a.m., which is ideal for late-night summer bug hunting.
Admittedly, a New Leaf town with the night owl ordinance lets you sell catches until 2 a.m., which is an hour later. But if you have a town with lots of hybrid flowers like I do, you probably need to use the beautiful town ordinance in New Leaf to keep your flowers alive.
The night owl ordinance in New Horizons isn’t nearly as beneficial; the shop closes at 11 p.m. New Horizons does have a drop-off box that you can use to sell things after the shop is closed, but it comes at a steep price: 20%. When you’re dealing with large quantities of valuable bugs and fish, 20% is a lot of money.
Chill Tunes
Even though I prefer the GameCube soundtrack overall, the City Folk tunes really shine in the late-night hours. In particular, the 10 p.m. through 2 a.m. songs are some of my favorites. They’re chill, relaxing, and they really set the mood. They’ve also become nostalgic for me, as those are some of my frequent playing hours.
Note: City Folk uses the same hourly tunes as Wild World, so this category is technically a tie with Wild World. 😛
Working Towards Long-Term Goals
This one is personal, and it can vary depending on what you’ve accomplished in each game. But the long-term goal of earning feathers (starting at 100 million bells in savings) is something that I’d like to achieve eventually.
The GameCube game does have a long-term goal, but it’s a bit too long-term: The 999,999,999 bells required for the post-office model would probably take several lifetimes to earn legitimately for most players (unless you’re a hardcore turnip trader).
The GameCube game is the hardest game to earn money in, and I don’t play the stalk market, time travel, or use cheat codes. It’s also the only game that doesn’t pay interest on your savings.
New Leaf has some reasonable long-term goals (the Tycoon Bell Saver badge and an A.B.D. at 100 million bells saved). But I’ve already met all of the long-term goals in New Leaf that related to saving money and catching bugs. So there’s nothing left for me to work towards.
Direct Comparisons
In addition to the reasons listed above, here are some direct comparisons as to why I prefer City Folk bug-hunting over the others.
Why City Folk over GameCube?
Bugs aren’t as plentiful on GameCube, as acre boundaries limit bugs to one per acre. Also, there are no sharks to catch. (Sharks were first added in Wild World.) Besides, GameCube has a different ultra-profitable activity: Catching ocean fish in early September when all of the sea bass are on vacation. 😛
Why City Folk over Wild World?
The lack of analog controls in Wild World makes bug-catching less precise, and there’s no quick way to swap tools (you have to go into the menu each time, and that’s a comparatively slow, clunky process in this game). I don’t particularly enjoy bug-catching in ACWW very much.
Why City Folk over New Leaf?
Admittedly, New Leaf’s island is more profitable than bug-hunting in City Folk. But it’s available year-round, so it feels less special when you don’t have to wait for summer nights. And as I mentioned above, I have no other long-term goals left to work towards in New Leaf.
Why City Folk over New Horizons?
Money is easy to earn in New Horizons, and there are no big-money goals to work towards anyway. Unless you still need to meet some bug-catching achievements for Nook Miles (and I don’t), it doesn’t seem as beneficial.
Happy Hunting!
Good luck if you’re doing any late-night bug-hunting in any Animal Crossing games this summer. Feel free to share your achievements and highlights in the comments below!
Genji took me for over 20,000 bells this morning in a quiz in Gamecube this morning.
Been making up for it this morning at 2AM, caught 3 flats, 2 mountains, 1 saw and 1 GIANT!!!
Also took time to give him a whack with the net while he was sleeping a few times so will call it a night now.
I always hated when villagers do that on GameCube! But I’m glad you made up for it, at least partially. Haha yes, the net is a great way to get revenge. 😂
Re New Horizons and shop hours: that game also has Flick, who is available until 5 a.m. and pays 50% more per bug. Though the fact that he only shows up on random days does kind of negate both benefits.
That is a good point! Even though it’s only once every two weeks or so, those nights would be great times to go bug hunting!